My fiancee has an 04 Dakota 2wd that she bought new in 04. Has the V6 and an automatic transmission. Early on, it tended to be early with its shifting, and slow to downshift. She took it to the dealer (70K warranty) several times between 20 and 40K, and of course, being warranty work, they just couldnt find a thing wrong with it. In the last 3 months, the problem has gotten MUCH worse- wont downshift up a 3-4% grade unless you tap the pedal to the floor, or push the OD button. Normal accelerator pressure/ movement to try to maintain speed wont work- it doesnt seem to add any fuel, or downshift til you get to about 2/3 throttle. But, when you get to the top, and almost level out, it will go ahead and downshift and pick up speed. When accelerating up a slight hill, it will shift into OD at about 30-32mph (3.54 rear), and will NOT downshift til you blip the pedal. Also, when slowing down to a crawl, such as when going through a "Yield" (10-12mph), it will rev up when you reapply the accelerator, like it had slipped into neutral, and takes a second or two for everything to get going again. I'm thinking it's a sensor of some sort or another that is not sending the right signal to the computer but is still within the overall parameters, so it isnt throwing any codes. And modern technicians cant figure out what to replace without a scanner to tell them what's wrong
Truck has been meticulously maintained- oil changed every 3000, transmission every 20 or 25K (I think- she follows the manual), had a complete flush AND changed the filter. I know Chrysler isnt known for their great transmissions (the 518 is why I will not own a diesel with an auto), but this is ridiculous. I even offered to take the technician for a ride- because I can duplicate every issue whenever I want- but the service writer at the dealer said "he'd be too busy for that." The tech DID drive it home to (with her permission) from Sikeston and "found no problems."
Rough idle also started at about 25K, if I recall. Was told "The new ones do it, too, nothing is wrong." But, it was something NEW, so it has to have something wrong. Fuel economy has dropped 3-4mpg across the board. Used to average 22-24 hwy/ 17-19city; now it's 18-20 hwy/ 15-16 city. No change in conditions or driving style.
Daniel